[golergka]

I spent 4 marvellous days at a semi-private psychedelic trance festival in deep Russian woods this June, and I couldn't disagree more. I felt as if I witnessed an event of similar cultural significance as british late 80s raves were back in their day, but the one that nobody outside of the community really knows anything about.

The festival culture is alive and well, it's just got a little bit private, as it tries to conceal itself from authorities and masses. Burning Man, as well as many other festivals that attracted crowds lost a lot of intimacy and implied freedom; I just don't believe that you could feel the same way in a commercial festival that has more than a thousand of attendees.

[kipchak]

These smaller festivals seem great for those who can attend, but it seems like for those who can't the largest option is commercialized subcultures, something like Star Wars Celebration to pick an example.

[GuB-42]

There are smaller festivals everywhere if you know where to look. And by that I don't mean they are secret or anything like that, just that they don't have the advertising budget of Star Wars conventions. A few Google searches is usually enough to give you some event close to you, and once you get there, if you are interested, people will tell you about more "underground" events.

And sure, Covid closed a lot of them, but the scene is not dead, in fact it is more than ready to start again as soon as they are allowed to. And by the virtue of being smaller, they are at an advantage: more flexible, less likely to exceed attendance thresholds, and sometimes a bit less legal.

[golergka]

> those who can attend

Why wouldn't someone be able to attend? Just to clarify, I saw startup founders with net worth of tens of million of dollars and "true hippies" living on $300 a month and I couldn't tell them apart.

[kipchak]

Not necessarily financially, but in terms of accessibility. For example I've personally never heard of a festival like this nearby me, outside of music festivals perhaps. Going by the article festivals were once more of a everyone or almost everyone affair.

[golergka]

But festivals like this are dedicated to music which is definitely is not everyone affair: most people just don't like it. If you want to judge for yourself, the festival in question had artists like Psykovsky and Fungus Funk. Do you think that this is something general public would enjoy listening? (No elitism intended, I don't think that my music taste is better than anyone else's. I just as a matter of fact know that it's a little different).

But if you're one of the people who like and follow this music scene, you'd probably go to some publicly announced psytrance parties, meet people there, and hear about this festival as well.

And finally, there's question of the authorities. Even if we forget about the very strong psychedelic tradition that follows this genre of music (it's literally in the name, and for a very good reason), it's not a good idea to draw attention to any music event in Russia, unless you have very good lawyers and serious money involved that can protect your interest.

[kipchak]

I guess it's not so much that I wish those festivals were open to the public, but that there was something that provided a similar experience that was available to everyone, or typically participated in by everyone if that makes sense. The closest example I can think of is Halloween as a kid, outside of the "go around eating candy" part.

[MisterBastahrd]

Except those types of festivals are marketing events, not true festivals.

[sunshineforever]

Can I ask, would a transgender person who speaks some Russian be able to reasonably safely go to Russia? I've practically almost been lynched in the USA so I am wary. I carry a gun and would feel pretty naked without it.

Pro: I used to live on the street so I don't think I would be too phased by anything like average Americans.

So, you think it's a good idea?

[golergka]

I wrote a big comment and deleted it, because it all depends on your notion of reasonable safety. If you look transgender, you will certainly get glances and some occasional verbal aggression, but as long as you follow the basic common sense safety rules, I doubt that you'll have to worry about something worse. Russia is a huge place, and living in a center of Moscow does feel like one of the most modern, shiny European cities. There's plenty of middle class (by US and Europe standards; they're at least upper-middle class by Russian standards) people living by progressive western values. But there's plenty of places that aren't that welcoming.